Entertainment system and method with outcomes being determined by playing cards

ABSTRACT

A system and method for playing Craps is described. In one embodiment, the method includes allowing a player to select a burn-card-quantity; shuffling a collection of playing cards, each of the playing cards including a respective card value from 1 through 6; and retrieving a number of playing cards equal to the burn-card-quantity from the collection of playing cards. Two additional playing cards are retrieved from the collection of playing cards, and the card values from the two additional playing cards are used to play the Craps game.

PRIORITY

The present application claims priority from to commonly owned and assigned application No. 60/800,475, Attorney Docket No. BARO-003/00US, entitled Entertainment System and Method With Outcomes Being Determined by Playing Cards, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to games of chance, and more particularly to tabletop games of chance with randomness introduced by the play of cards.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are several games that have the outcome of play determined by the roll of one or more dye. In accordance with traditional craps rules for example, the play is governed directly by the roll of two standard six-sided dice. Specifically, a player initially makes a “Pass Line” wager on the first roll of the dice and winning Pass Line wagers are paid even money (one-to-one odds on the amount of the wager). On the first roll, three possibilities are present: a roll of 7 or 11 is a winning roll; a roll of 2, 3 or 12 is a losing roll; and a roll of any other number establishes a point to be made. If a point is made, the player continues to roll until either the point is rolled and the player wins their Pass Line wager or a 7 is rolled and the player loses his Pass Line wager.

After a point is established, a player may make another wager such as taking odds on the point. When the player places an “Odds Bet,” the player is betting that the point number will be rolled before a 7 is rolled. In conventional craps, the Odds Bets do not pay even money. For example, if the point is a 6 or an 8, the Odds Bets pay 6-to-5 odds based on the amount wagered on the Odds Bet. If the point is a 5 or a 9, the Odds Bets pay 3-to-2 odds based on the amount wagered on the Odds Bet. If the point is a 4 or a 10, the Odds Bets pay 2-to-1 odds based on the amount wagered on the Odds Bet.

The player may also make a “Come Bet,” which is treated like the initial roll to determine winning rolls, losing rolls or rolls that establish another point to be made. Odds Bets may also be made in relation to these Come Bet wagers.

While the normal rolling of the dice is occurring, many other wagers can be made. Typical of these bets are “Place Bets” and the “Hard Ways Bets.” These bets stay in action until an event occurs or the player takes the bet down.

Other bets are only in action for one roll. Typical of these bets are “Field Bets.” The determination of winning or losing on these bets is made on the next roll only. Traditionally, Field Bets include seven numbers out of the possible eleven numbers that can be rolled with a pair of dice. Field Bets usually are bets that the numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 11 and 12 will be rolled on that roll of the dice. For a complete description of Craps, reference is made to Scarne's New Complete Guide to Gambling, pages 259-336, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. See also, Scarne on Dice, pages 64-65 for a discussion on how to figure the odds at Craps, pages 98-99 for an explanation of field bets and page 461 for a definition of a field bet, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention that are shown in the drawings are summarized below. These and other embodiments are more fully described in the Detailed Description section. It is to be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the forms described in this Summary of the Invention or in the Detailed Description. One skilled in the art can recognize that there are numerous modifications, equivalents and alternative constructions that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the claims.

In accordance with one embodiment, the invention may be characterized as a system and method for playing a Craps game. The method in this embodiment including: allowing a player to select a burn-card-quantity; shuffling a collection of playing cards, each of the playing cards including a respective card value from 1 through 6; retrieving a number of playing cards equal to the burn-card-quantity from the collection of playing cards; and retrieving two additional playing cards from the collection of playing cards. The card values from the two additional playing cards are then used to play the Craps game.

In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, the invention may be characterized as a method of playing a Craps game, the method including: shuffling a collection of playing cards, each of the playing cards including a respective card value from 1 through 6; making at least six of the collection of playing cards available so as to form at least six available cards, each of the at least six available cards being disposed in a unique one of at least six sequential positions so as to enable each of the at least six available cards to be selectable by its unique position; allowing a player to select one of the at least six sequential positions. A first card from the selected one of the at least six sequential positions and a second card that is juxtaposed with the selected one of the at least six sequential positions is selected, and the card values from the first and second cards are used to play the Craps game.

In accordance with yet another embodiment, the invention may be characterized as an entertainment system including three lammers, each of the three lammers including two faces, each of the two faces of each lammer including indicia thereon that indicates a burn-card-quantity so as to enable a player to select a number of burn cards by selecting a particular face of one of the three lammers; and a shuffle machine configured to shuffle a plurality of playing cards, each of the playing cards including indicia thereon indicative of a number from one through six, and wherein the shuffle machine is configured to enable a dealer to withdraw a quantity of the plurality of playing cards equal to the sum of the burn-card-quantity plus two additional play cards, the indicia of the numbers from one through six on the two additional play cards determining a roll for a game of Craps.

As previously stated, the above-described embodiments and implementations are for illustration purposes only. Numerous other embodiments, implementations, and details of the invention are easily recognized by those of skill in the art from the following descriptions and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various objects and advantages and a more complete understanding of the present invention are apparent and more readily appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description and to the appended claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 provides a top view of a gaming table in accordance with one embodiment of a playing card determinative entertainment system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting steps carried out during play in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive entertainment system; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a potential distribution of playing cards on card positions of the gaming table of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, where like or similar elements are designated with identical reference numerals throughout the several views, and referring in particular to FIG. 1 for example, shown is a Craps table 10 including a playing surface 16 circumscribed at least in part by a sidewall 14 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The playing surface 16 is provided with a lay-out 18 in the form of indicia indicative of the play of Craps. The playing surface 16, may for example, be a felt material having the indicia of the lay-out 18 imprinted thereon. As shown, the lay-out 18 includes indicia indicative of a pass line bet area 20, a don't pass bet area 22, a proposition bet area 24, a come bet area 26, a don't come bet area 28 and a point number area 30 (a plurality of squares each having a corresponding one of the numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 imprinted thereon).

Also shown are three disks (e.g., lammers) 31 and an outcome determination area 32, which includes a shoe 33. In addition, the outcome determination area 32 includes a plurality of card positions 34, which in the present embodiment includes two card positions, but as discussed further herein, in other embodiments more than two card positions are utilized. In the present embodiment, each face of each of the three disks 31 includes indicia of a number (e.g., a numeral or other indication of a quantity) and collectively the disks include indicia of the numbers one through six. For example, one disk may include numerals 1 and 2, a second disk may include numerals 3 and 4 and a third disk may include numerals 5 and 6.

The shoe 33 in this embodiment includes playing cards that contain an Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. As an example, the shoe 33 may include thirteen decks of cards, of all four suits, without any cards higher that a 6 so that the shoe includes a total of 312 cards, which represents 36 total combinations.

According to the exemplary embodiment, when play begins, a player is offered to select a number from one of the three disks 31, and the disk that includes the number chosen by the player is then placed next to the player's line bet with the selected number facing up. The selected number is then used to identify a card from the shoe 33 that will determine the first number of the draw, and the next card following the selected card will determine the second number of the draw. The values of the playing cards are then used to play the Craps game in the same way as the values of rolled dice are used to play an ordinary game of Craps.

In some embodiments, the number indicated by the face of the selected disk indicates a number of “burn” cards (e.g., cards that are not used for the play of Craps); thus allowing a player to select a burn-card-quantity. As an example, if a player chooses the number “5,” the first four cards will burned and may be placed faced down on the card positions 34 or set aside to be reshuffled at a later time with the cards in the shoe 33. The fifth and sixth cards are then placed on the card positions 34, and the values of the fifth and sixth cards will determine the outcome of the draw.

In several embodiments, the shoe 33 is realized by a “1 to 6” shuffler. Typical shoes deplete cards from use, which creates a variable with the probability of outcomes that is dependent upon the cards already played. In the context of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the effect of removing cards from an ordinary shoe changes the probability of the various outcomes from a normal dice-determinative Crap game. Using the “1-to-6” shuffler allows the cards, which are immediately reinserted in the shuffler, to be used without any changes to the probability. An exemplary “1 to 6” shuffler is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,460, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Advantageously, after the players are paid and/or wagers collected, the burned cards and the two playing cards may be quickly removed (e.g., from the card positions 34) without disrupting the flow and emotion that is associated with Craps. Play continues when a player selects another number, which determines the next two cards that are pulled from the shoe 33. As a consequence, several embodiments of the present invention may be easily implemented by gaming establishments and readily adopted by players accustomed to the play of ordinary Craps.

Referring next to FIG. 2, shown is a flowchart, which depicts exemplary steps carried out in practicing an embodiment of the inventive playing card determinative game with the Craps table of FIG. 1. In the exemplary embodiment, before and/or during play, a collection of playing cards are shuffled and each of the playing cards includes a respective card value from 1 through 6 (Step 202). For example, each card may include with indicia of the values 1 through 6 inclusive (e.g., Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6).

As shown in FIG. 2, a player in the exemplary embodiment is allowed to select a burn-card-quantity, which is a quantity of cards that are “burned” (e.g., not used for the play of Craps) (Step 204). As discussed above, lammers may be used to allow players to select a burn-card-quantity by selecting a face of a lammer that indicates the quantity of cards that are discarded. Referring briefly to FIG. 3 for example, in response to a player selecting a lammer face 320 with the numeral 6, the first five cards 302 pulled from the shoe 33 are burned (e.g., placed face down and not used) and the sixth 304 and seventh 306 cards are used to play the Craps game. As a consequence, in this embodiment, the player selects a burn-card-quantity by selecting a lammer face that has a number that is one greater than the burn-card-quantity. It should also be noted that in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, there are seven card positions to enable five cards to be burned and two cards to be used as the play cards for the game of Craps.

After the cards are shuffled and a player has selected a burn-card-quantity (Steps 202, 204), a number of playing cards equal to the burn-card-quantity is retrieved from the collection of playing cards (Step 206), and two additional playing cards are retrieved from the collection of playing cards (Step 208). As shown in FIG. 2, the card values from the two additional playing cards are used to play the Craps game (Step 210). Referring again to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3 for example, five cards 302 are retrieved in response to the selected lammer face indicating a burn-card-quantity of five, and two additional cards 304, 306 are retrieved and used to play the Craps game (e.g., the card values of “5” and “4” are used just as the values of two rolled die are used in an ordinary game of Craps).

In many embodiments, to select the cards that are used to play the Craps game, a player identifies a unique card position that identifies a first card. And the first card, in addition to a second card that is juxtaposed with the first card, are used to play the Craps game. Referring again to FIG. 3 for example, the face of the lammer selected by the player in the illustrated example identifies the sixth card 304 that is retrieved from the shoe 33. The seventh card 306 in this example is juxtaposed with the sixth card 304, and as a consequence, the values of sixth card 304 and the seventh card 306 may be used to play the Craps game. In some variations of this embodiment, the cards that are not selected (e.g., the first five cards 302 in the example depicted in FIG. 3) are not used to play the game and are placed face down on the playing surface.

Although the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the invention.

In conclusion, the present invention provides, among other things, an entertainment system and method with outcomes determined by playing cards. Those skilled in the art can readily recognize that numerous variations and substitutions may be made in the invention, its use and its configuration to achieve substantially the same results as achieved by the embodiments described herein. Accordingly, there is no intention to limit the invention to the disclosed exemplary forms. Many variations, modifications and alternative constructions fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosed invention as expressed in the claims. 

1. A method of playing a Craps game comprising: allowing a player to select a burn-card-quantity; shuffling a collection of playing cards, each of the playing cards including a respective card value from 1 through 6; retrieving a number of playing cards equal to the burn-card-quantity from the collection of playing cards; retrieving two additional playing cards from the collection of playing cards; and using the card values from the two additional playing cards to play the Craps game.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the allowing includes allowing a player to select the burn-card-quantity by selecting a face of one lammer from among three lammers, each face of the three lammers including indicia of a number between 1 and 6, wherein the burn-card-quantity is one less than the number indicated by the face of the one selected lammer.
 3. The method of claim 1 including: placing the number of playing cards equal to the burn-card-quantity on a playing surface; and placing the two additional playing cards on the playing surface face up.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the two additional playing cards are juxtaposed in a shuffler before being retrieved.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the collection of playing cards includes 312 cards and the shuffling includes shuffling the collection of playing cards with a 1 to 6 shuffler.
 6. A method of playing a Craps game comprising: shuffling a collection of playing cards, each of the playing cards including a respective card value from 1 through 6; making at least six of the collection of playing cards available so as to form at least six available cards, each of the at least six available cards being disposed in a unique one of at least six sequential positions so as to enable each of the at least six available cards to be selectable by its unique position; allowing a player to select one of the at least six sequential positions; retrieving a first card from the selected one of the at least six sequential positions; retrieving a second card from one of the at least six sequential positions that is juxtaposed with the selected one of the at least six sequential positions; and using the card values from the first and second cards to play the Craps game.
 7. The method of claim 6, including: making seven of the collection of playing cards available so as to form seven available cards, six of the seven available cards being disposed in a unique one of six sequential positions so as to enable each of the at least six cards to be selectable by its unique position.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the allowing includes allowing a player to select a lammer and place a face of the lammer upwards so that the face is visible, the visible face of the lammer including a number identifying the one of the at least six sequential positions.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the collection of playing cards includes 312 cards and the shuffling includes shuffling the collection of playing cards with a 1 to 6 shuffler.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein a third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards are also retrieved and discarded.
 11. The method of claim 10 including, after using the card values from the first and second cards to play the Craps game, replacing the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards so as to reform the collection of playing cards; and reshuffling the collection of playing cards before retrieving additional cards.
 12. An entertainment system comprising: three lammers, each of the three lammers including two faces, each of the two faces of each lammer including indicia thereon that indicates a burn-card-quantity so as to enable a player to select a number of burn cards by selecting a particular face of one of the three lammers; and a shuffle machine configured to shuffle a plurality of playing cards, each of the playing cards including indicia thereon indicative of a number from one through six, and wherein the shuffle machine is configured to enable a dealer to withdraw a quantity of the plurality of playing cards equal to the sum of the burn-card-quantity plus two additional play cards, the indicia of the numbers from one through six on the two additional play cards determining a roll for a game of Craps.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the burn-card-quantity is determined by subtracting one from a number represented by the indicia on each face of each lammer.
 14. The system of claim 12 including a playing surface, the playing surface including seven card positions, each of the seven card positions including an area for one of the plurality of playing cards.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the shuffle machine is configured to shuffle 312 cards.
 16. The system of claim 12, wherein the shuffle machine is a 1 to 6 shuffler. 